Key Points:

• Tapping into deep-rooted emotions helps identify and manage trading barriers like anger, shame, or avoidance.
• Reflecting on emotional responses to journaling can reveal underlying patterns and clarify the trading process.
• Confidence in trading builds from self-awareness, repetition, and practicing mindfulness, not quick-fix positivity.

This session explores traders’ struggles with journaling, emotional responses, and confidence-building in trading amidst market highs. Sean discusses how emotions like anger and avoidance can mask underlying psychological patterns, making journaling seem more challenging. He delves into how acknowledging and processing these feelings—especially anger tied to past experiences—can remove hidden mental barriers, enabling more clarity and ease in tracking trades and assessing performance.

Sean also emphasizes the importance of trading confidently, rooted not in mantras or positive thinking but in a steady commitment to self-awareness, skill repetition, and mindfulness. He argues that “confidence comes from knowing yourself before you even step into a trade,” which requires assessing feelings daily and reflecting on their impact on trading decisions. This approach helps traders avoid impulsive actions spurred by euphoria or fear of missing out (FOMO), especially during high market activity.

Journaling techniques are revisited, with community members sharing methods to simplify the process, such as using Post-it notes to capture brief thoughts or feelings and identifying repeated themes over time. Sean affirms that tracking one’s emotional state alongside trading outcomes isn’t just about discipline but is essential for personal and financial growth.

“If you don’t know how you feel when you’re trading, you’re doomed,”

Sean states, underscoring that self-knowledge is a trader’s best tool and the key to successful trading.

C.L.E.A.R. Mindset Connections

Connect to the present moment and enhance your self-awareness with practical techniques that you can start using today.

• Participants practiced noticing emotions tied to trading (e.g., frustration with journaling) and explored where they might stem from, bringing awareness into the body.

Loosen your attachment to thoughts and emotions, and cultivate mental clarity and resilience.

• Sean guided Cleo in noticing feelings without judgment and encouraged questioning the underlying reasons rather than dismissing them as simple avoidance or laziness.

Embody your core values and align them with your actions to foster authenticity and purpose.

• Members were encouraged to redefine journaling to align with their values, such as tracking emotional patterns rather than rigid trade metrics.

Accept all the present moment offers, whether wanted or not, and find peace and strength.

• Sean suggested that discomfort, like resistance to journaling, be viewed as an opportunity to identify unresolved emotions or beliefs affecting trading.

Respond with decisive, informed action, transforming challenges into opportunities for growth.

• Instead of abandoning journaling due to frustration, traders were encouraged to adapt it in small, manageable ways, transforming a chore into a tool for growth.

Actionable Strategies

• To reduce resistance, experiment with different journaling formats, such as post-it notes or minimal entry tracking.
• Take a “third-person view” on your trading day, observing feelings and thoughts as if you were an outsider to understand emotional triggers better.
• Use mindfulness practices to develop self-awareness, tuning into physical sensations that arise during trading.
• Reframe “laziness” or “avoidance” as potential indicators of deeper emotional patterns rather than failures of discipline.
• Practice consistency with one trade type or setup to build mastery and enhance confidence over time.

Act Accordingly:

This session highlights how deeply rooted emotions impact trading habits and hinder progress. With Sean’s guidance, traders are reminded that patience, self-awareness, and adapting strategies to align with personal values are crucial for meaningful growth in trading and personal life.